I have a SE-400 and I purchase and download my designs to my computer and then transfer to the 400. According to my manual I have to copy the design to the "Removable Disk" (icon appears in "My Computer" on the computer and the pattern data is written to the sewing machine. You must have a usb cable attached at the computer and then to the sewing machine. The sewing machine needs to be set in the embroidery mode with the embroidery unit attached to the machine. If this is confusing, pm me and I will attach a copy of my manual page that may be helpful. Didn't mean to post twice. But I can add that I can use a card but don't choose to do that. Rather load from my computer